Wafa al Bass

Who is Wafa al Bass?

Wafa al Bass is a Palestinian Arab resident of Gaza who was permitted to enter Israel for the purpose of being treated at an Israeli hospital in 2005. She wore a suicide bomb vest which she attempted to explode as she crossed into Israel via the Erez Crossing.

Al Bass had been given permission to enter Israel to receive hospital treatment for severe burns. Guards at the crossing became suspicious and discovered that under her traditional black robes she had strapped a 22-pound bomb to her leg.

She was imprisoned for several years and released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.

Upon release for prison she immediately attained further notoriety by urging Gazans to “take another Shalit” every year until all convicted Arab terrorists held in Israeli prisons were freed. As schoolchildren gathered at her home in northern Gaza to welcome her home, she told them, "I hope you will walk the same path we took and God willing, we will see some of you as martyrs."